News & Press

A report released today by MFY Legal Services shows that New York’s Unified Court System is not effectively administering a program that would enable people with disabilities to access the court system and exercise their right to fully participate in court proceedings to which they are a party. The report details the specific problems of […]

MFY Legal Services has worked with a coalition of 17 organizations led by CSH to develop recommendations that help to improve access to supportive, affordable, public, and market rate housing for individuals leaving incarceration. If adopted, these policy reforms would end reliance on unstable and unsafe housing; improve access to supportive and other affordable housing […]

Housing advocates in New York City denounced Airbnb’s proposed Home Sharing Rules for New York in a statement released October 21, 2016, arguing that the rules are unenforceable and will legitimize Airbnb’s illegal business practices, which contribute to the loss of affordable housing, create unlivable conditions for tenants in residential buildings, and make unsuspecting tenants […]

Tenants of three-quarter houses, along with MFY Legal Services, Neighbors Together, VOCAL-NY and other organizations supporting tenants’ rights rallied at City Hall today to support five bills to improve the lives of these tenants. Holding signs reading “Dear Landlord: My Health Is None of Your Business!,” tenants urged passage of Intro. 1168, which would make […]

Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY), a statewide grassroots membership organization dedicated to empowering low-income people, has joined MFY and Neighbors Together in our campaign to organize three-quarter house tenants and advocate for greater protections for these residents. On Thursday, October 6, we will rally at City Hall at 12:30 pm to support five […]

MFY Supervising Attorney Justin LaMort commented in an AM-NY article on New York City’s new guidelines for affordable housing lotteries, noting that many changes are long overdue. The new process eliminates home visits and decisions based on credit scores, and recognizes that the tenant blacklist is a problem by providing that a previous housing court […]

MFY Staff Attorney Nahid Sarooshyari commented in an article in AM New York on recommendations in changes to Access-A-Ride to make service easier and more efficient. MFY recently settled a class action lawsuit with New York City Transit requiring the agency to provide the reasons for denying services and to continue services during the appeals […]

MFY is representing a group of tenants at 80 New York Avenue in Brooklyn who are suing their landlord for renting out individual rooms in apartments, alleging illegal deregulation and rent overcharges. In a scheme proliferating in many gentrifying neighborhoods, landlords convince single adults desperate for an affordable place to live to co-sign a lease. […]

In this video from BRIC-TV, Elizabeth Lynch, Supervising Attorney at MFY Legal Services, and David Quart, Deputy Commission of Strategy, Research and Communications at NYC’s Depaertment of Housing Preservation & Development speak on how homeowners with mortgages in private hands are more likely to be foreclosed, and why the homeowners most affected by HUD’s mortgage […]

A federal judge approved the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by five New Yorkers with disabilities against New York City Transit (NYCT) yesterday. The suit challenged NYCT’s unconstitutional policies of Access-A-Ride, the City’s paratransit service for people with disabilities. Plaintiffs were represented by MFY Legal Services and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Under […]